England’s thinking proves flawed with big guns silenced

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Rankin left the field twice because of a hamstring injuryPA/Anthony Devlin

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Again England's bowlers were too short for most of the dayGetty Images/Mark Kolbe

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Stokes picked up six wickets but at a cost of 99 runsAnthony Devlin / PA

Gideon Haigh

Last updated at 1:45PM, January 3 2014

Gideon Haigh says the home side were ready for an outdated strategy

An old truism of military strategy involves the deluding urge to fight the
next war with the weapons of the last. Looking back on this Ashes tour,
history might render a similar verdict on England.

In the past few years, one of the most sought-after attributes among pace
bowlers has been height. At the likes of South Africa’s Morné Morkel (6ft
6in) and Pakistan’s Mohammad Irfan (7ft 1in), batsmen have been looking up
more than ever, and going under more often too, ducking and diving amid the
chin traffic. For Australia, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Trent
Copeland, Ben Cutting and